Ranchi: The Jharkhand High Court has strongly reprimanded the state government over a 262-day delay in filing an appeal. A division bench comprising Chief Justice M.S. Sonak and Justice Rajesh Shankar rejected the application seeking condonation of the delay, observing that the government had failed to provide a satisfactory and continuous explanation for each stage of the delay.
The case concerned an LPA filed by the state government against a single-bench order dated August 16, 2024. The government had sought condonation of the 262-day delay in filing the appeal. The court observed that merely moving a file between government departments cannot by itself be considered sufficient grounds for condoning such a delay.
Appeal Deadline Had Expired on September 15
According to the court, the department took its first action on August 27, 2024, after the single-bench order. Thereafter, the file moved between the directorate and various officials. During this period, the prescribed deadline for filing the appeal expired on September 15, 2024, without any effective step being taken by the government.
The division bench also pointed out several gaps of 17 days, 22 days and five days during the departmental process, for which the government failed to provide satisfactory reasons. The court made it clear that merely stating that a file was moved from one official to another cannot, by itself, justify the delay.
122-Day Delay Even After Advocate General’s Opinion
The court also questioned the most significant part of the delay. On February 4, 2025, the Advocate General had clearly advised that an appeal should be filed. Despite this, the government took another 122 days to file the appeal. The LPA was finally filed on June 6, 2025.
The division bench observed that after the Advocate General’s opinion, there was no uncertainty regarding the filing of the appeal. Therefore, the government failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for the additional 122-day delay.
Government Negligence Cannot Be Validated
The court referred to the Supreme Court judgments in Postmaster General vs Living Media India Limited, Union of India vs Jahangir Byramji Jeejeebhoy and Shivamma vs Karnataka Housing Board. It observed that the law of limitation applies to the government in the same manner as it applies to private parties.
The division bench said constitutional courts cannot give legitimacy to government negligence and inaction. According to the record, the file moved between officials more than 30 times, but such movement alone cannot automatically justify a delay of 262 days.
The High Court consequently rejected the application seeking condonation of the 262-day delay. The related LPA and connected applications were also disposed of.
